Biden seen as an empathic personality might be right about that, at least in the clerical sense he defines a 'human soul'. But what else did we expect from a Russian leader who emerged from the dark empire of the Soviet Union as a shrewd member of his country's intelligence.
Biden, like most politicians raised in what we call the 'free world', has undergone a public development that excluded the secret formation of a 'dark triad personality'. As a result, people belonging to the three groups of dark triad personalities (psychopathy, Machiavellianism, narcissism) would find it difficult to hide their inclination from the public when striving for the highest-ranking positions of their country. In fact, we find it easy to detect such persons in public life, starting from Senator McCarthy up to President Donald Trump, not to mention McCarthy's right hand Roy Cohn who should have played, as well, a role in the personal formation of young Donald Trump. Sometimes it is just their special inclination which makes up for their public attraction, - or public rejection on the contrary.
A dark triad personality is usually connected with a lack of empathy, however, there are some of them who are unexpectedly gifted with a fully developed empathy they could use to follow their dark inclination.
"A dark empath may actually be more dangerous than a more cold and unfeeling dark triad type, because the so-called dark empath can draw you in closer—and do more harm as a result," says Ramani Durvasula, PhD, clinical psychologist and author of "Don't You Know Who I Am?": How To Stay Sane in an Era of Narcissism, Entitlement, and Incivility. "The closer you are to someone, the more you can hurt them."
Basic information on the subject is given in the linked article. As to the characteristics of dark empaths scientists found out:
Though the aggression reported by the dark empaths was not as high as the traditional dark triad group, the danger of this personality profile is that their empathy, and likely resulting social skills, make their darkness harder to spot. We believe that dark empaths have the capacity to be callous and ruthless, but are able to limit such aggression. [Nadja Heym, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, and Alexander Sumich, Associate Professor of Psychology, both Nottingham Trent University]
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin had been raised in the post-Stalinist era, flooded with an aggressive propaganda which was directed against real and imagined enemies of the Soviet Union. Like many other youths of his age he was attracted by the adventurous and heroic world of state security, a world of deception, lies and sometimes bloody terror that must have deeply influenced a young personality in his development. So he became familiar with the 'dark triad' aspect of some kind of secret brotherhood which existed apart from daily life.
What made him so successful inside KGB and boostered his career, that was his strong empathic ability to evaluate people and manipulate them. This was confirmed by one of his former superiors in a video.
German ex-chancellor Schröder and 'best friend' Putin
Putin can therefore be seen as a typical 'dark empath' as defined by modern psychology.
As long as he remained in the shadow of a secret organisation, his personal inclination remained in the dark as well. But when his efficiency in solving problems for the Jelzin administration finally brought him into the office of a prime-minister of Russia, things changed dramatically. In a video interview after his inauguration, he obviously felt unwell facing the necessity to lead a public life.
In the end, however, he came to terms with his newly won popularity. Successful suppression of the Russian media and of opposition groups and activists reduced the slightest risk for him to lose his face in the public. There is simply nobody left in an influential position who might get in his way. And the Russian people are so much indoctrinated by the official media that they have come to believe anything or fear to show the slightest sign of disagreement.
A history of Vladimir Putin by Dr. Mark Felton
produced for his non-political history channel.
Putin on Russian 'traitors'
within the oligarch class.
